In regards to Dr Ben Carson, his whole argument is that being gay is a choice. Since it is a choice you can choose not to be gay and then you will cease to be discriminated against.

Let us blow is argument out of the water shall we…

Let’s, for a minute, agree with him. I don’t really but this is a thought exercise.You know what else is a choice, YOUR RELIGION! *gasp* You may be born in to a religious or non-religious family but can change at any time. But you do not hear Dr Ben Carson arguing for the repeal of laws allowing discrimination based on “sincerely held religious beliefs”, do you?

People change their religious beliefs, convert from Christianity to other religions or become agnostic/atheist and vice versa. People may deny their sexual orientation (closet cases) but that does not negate that they are NOT straight. I am a straight cis-women but I do not become a lesbian if I kiss, fondle or even have sex with another women.

Dr Ben Carson is just evidence that a brilliant neurologist is not necessarily brilliant at ANYTHING else.

BTW. My husband and I went to a St Bonaventure University basketball game and I spotted a car in the parking lot with a Ben Carson 2016 bumper sticker. IT. HAS. BEGUN.

When you were reading the comments on the teenage girl that nudged her friend towards suicide, two things sprung to mind.

1) Whether she should be charged with a crime, and whether she should/will be convicted of a crime are two different things. Much like the debate we’ve been having over unarmed shootings by police, even if its quite likely no crime was committed we want to see the person brought before a court to explain themselves and to see them held accountable for the actions that led to someone’s death. For this girl, it could be, as you said, her clumsy efforts to help a distraught friend, but the consequences are so grave that we can’t just take her word for it.

2) This particular story is definitely a gray area where we can’t be certain she knew she was causing any harm to her friend, but I can imagine a lot of nightmare scenarios where someone suffering depression or just experiencing a particularly low time in their life could be manipulated or driven over the edge by an asshole close to them. Imagine a married couple going through some really trying times and the husbands been leaning on a close, longtime friend for support. After losing his job, and having a nasty fight with his wife where she threatens divorce, the husband tells his friend he tried to kill himself last night my scenario is melodramatic, I know, but it illustrates a point). Imagine the friend had been interested in pursuing a relationship with the husbands wife for a long time and sees an opportunity (you see where this is going). My point is when someone is in that space where suicide is being seriously considered and attempts have been made, they are in a fragile state where those close to them may accidentally or intentionally push them over the edge. Of course if its done by accident, we shouldn’t punish those people, but we need to be careful, because those closest to you would know exactly what buttons to push to nudge you in a specific direction.